Nova Vision:
The Nova Center will become a K-12 National model for literacy by training pre-service and experienced educators, in a diverse learning community, which will result in maximum student achievement.
Nova Mission:
The mission of the Nova Center is to train pre-service and experienced educators to teach our culturally diverse student population to be literate, productive citizens, using a seamless K-12, in collaboration with parents, the community, and partners in higher education.
INTRODUCTION
The Nova K-12 schools are proud of their high standards of student achievement to date. It is with great emphasis on a seamless K-12 curriculum and a Systemic Literacy Plan that these standards have been met. In the interest of continued improvement, the Nova schools have revisited their vision to extend beyond its current Systemic Literacy and incorporate a component of educational expertise and research that partners with nearby universities. In so doing, a priority will be placed upon best instructional practices. This will translate to the development of highly qualified teachers who will be recruited and retained within Broward County.
In capitalizing upon the available resources provided by the proximity and interest of the universities, and in forging collaborative relationships and establishing a culture of collegiality with the universities, we hold ourselves out to serve as an educational model where theory meets application.
The proposed programs, relationships and initiatives herein are supportive of NovaÕs current vision, while simultaneously projecting into the future a vision that is even more academically rigorous and intensive.
THIS DOCUMENT
In identifying the needs and goals of the district and Nova schools, the Nova Vision and Mission Committee has produced the following working document. In this document are listed tasks that address three broad categories: recruiting/retaining highly qualified teachers, best practices, and educational research.
Every page includes the following information regarding a particular task: justification, current status, plan of action and indicators of success. It is important to note here that notwithstanding the listed justifications and indicators of success specified for individual-listed tasks, implicit in every indicator of success is the notion that the ultimate goal of any task is that of improved instruction as manifested in improved student achievement.
Under the Òcurrent statusÓ section of these pages, the reader can assume that the information given refers to that which has occurred within the 2003-2004 school year unless otherwise stated under the plans of action section of these pages, the reader can assume that these will be tackled during the 2004-2005 school year.
Finally, the reader may note that herein the term ÒuniversitiesÓ or ÒuniversityÓ shall refer to BCC, FAU and NSU unless otherwise stated.
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